UA wheelchair team brings home title

Friday

Six seasons since the program’s inception, the Alabama team is now the top-ranked team in the country after winning in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Championship in Denver.

TUSCALOOSA | It’s been an uphill climb for the University of Alabama’s women’s wheelchair basketball team, but after six seasons since the program’s inception, the Alabama team is now the top-ranked team in the country after winning in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Championship in Denver. The Alabama team packed its bags on March 18 and headed West for a wheelchair competition of epic proportions. Joining thousands of disabled collegiate athletes across the globe, the Alabama team won four games in three days to secure the national title. According to Brent Hardin, UA’s director of disability sports, the diversity of players on this year’s team gave Alabama the advantage over its opponents. The team’s superior height, strength and speed upset competition from the start. “We have the inside-outside game. We have the height and speed. Really we have all the things that you need to win. Last year we had almost all of it, but we didn’t have that big height,” Hardin said. In the opening game against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the Alabama team set the tone for the rest of the tournament. Leading with a score of 35-21 at halftime, the Alabama team successfully outmatched all players on the Wisconsin team by the end of the second half with a final score of 66-43. The Tide shot for 50 percent of the game, with highlight plays by Janet McLachlan, Stephanie Wheeler and Tara Feser. In the second game against the third-ranked University of Arizona, Alabama team maintained its lead throughout to win with a final score of 53-39. It was the win against Arizona that gave Alabama team the chance to avenge last year’s bitter loss by one point to the University of Illinois in the 2008 national championship game. Alabama reclaimed its lead in the second half with the team’s successful combination of smart defense and clutch shooting. With Janet McLachlan and Stephanie Wheeler leading in scoring with 25 and 16 points, respectively, Alabama came out on top with a final score of 53-39.Illinois won an elimination game to force a rematch with Alabama in the title game. According to head coach Margaret Stran, the final game against Illinois was a test of Alabama’s strengths. After getting off to a slow start with Illinois in the lead, Stran called the girls back in to restrategize. Stran said a surprise change sent the Illinois’ team in a tailspin. “When we started, they were back-picking us. Then we made a change in our formation and game plan. That threw them off and really hurt them,” Stran said. Stran said she was impressed by her players’ ability to work together to correct mistakes and perfect chemistry. “I think the fact that we never got rattled, we never threw the ball away and we played really good defense made all the difference. If I noticed something that we needed to change, I brought them in and they went right out and did it,” Stran said. Tara Feser, a first-year player from Canada, helped lead the Alabama team to victory in scoring 10, 14 and 16 points in the three tournament games. While the pace and intensity of wheelchair basketball at Alabama took some adjusting to, Feser said she’s loved every minute and has dramatically improved. Coming from playing on a club team in Canada to a top-ranked wheelchair team, Feser got her first taste of American success. “It’s a huge accomplishment just for the team, but also for myself, because I haven’t had the opportunity to come on to a team and the first year win. To come on to a strong team already and make their first win was awesome,” Feser said. A key player on the team, Feser stayed on the court from start to finish. “She’s a good defender, shooter and always so calm. She didn’t really get nervous in the game. She’s always steady and always knew what was going to happen. All the time,” Hardin said. McLachlan, a first-year player on the Alabama team from Vancouver, Canada, played a key role in the team’s success.“She’s a really big and strong player. She’s a really good shooter. Her role is to be that person that we could count on to score consistently. I think more than anything else is if we could get her inside, we could throw her any pass. If we could get the ball close to her hands, she would make it happen,” Hardin said. As the tallest player on the team, with better balance and more muscle than some other players, McLachlan got a lot of playing time. “Nobody can touch Janet. Even if they’re as big as her, they’re not as tough. We’re really fast. Whatever lineup we have, we have five people who can shoot. There are a lot of teams that have a three good shooters, but rarely five,” Hardin said. According to Stran, Alabama’s rivalry with Illinois made for an intense game. She adds that in addition to making up for last year’s loss, Alabama’s win marks the first time a team has ever beaten Illinois in the national championship game.“I went to the University of Illinois and won three national championships with them, but it’s a lot sweeter now that we knocked them off,” Stran said.According to McLachlan, there was a lot of emotion invested in the game.“I think we were confident, but not overly so. We knew that if we played our game, we were in a very good position. Emotions can always go either way. We had to concentrate on the things we needed to do to play well. We had to take our time and get our shots,” McLachlan said. Since the start of the program’s first season in 2004, Alabama has been ranked among the top 10 wheelchair basketball teams. Founded in 2003 by Hardin and Stran, Alabama is one of only four programs in the country with both a men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball team. Wheeler, Mary Allison Milford and former player Alana Nichols also played on the U.S. Paralympics team that won a gold medal at the 2008 Paralympics Games in Beijing. Now in her fifth season with the Alabama wheelchair basketball team, assistant coach and player Wheeler said winning the national championship has always been one of her goals. Wheeler was named Tournament MVP in the National Basketball Association Championship tournament. “It definitely ranks up there with winning a gold medal. It’s another historic win for the team,” Wheeler said.

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